More Power for Less Dollar: 20 Cheapest Ways to Get 400 Horsepower

Pop the hood of your car and gaze upon its exposed powertrain. That jumble of metal, plastic, and wires is more than just a source of power; it’s a proverbial ranch, a place that your car’s horses call home. And as any rancher can tell you, success in this line of work is dependent on buying a strong horse at the right price. We’ve arranged the entrants from most to least expensive, so click through for the biggest high-horsepower bargains.

Price per horsepower: $92What the two-door Challenger SRT Hellcat gives up in versatility to its four-door Charger sibling, it more than makes up for in looks and driver involvement—with a nice cost savings thrown in. Its starting price is $3450 cheaper, and the Challenger comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission. We’d happily suffer with less interior room for the opportunity to shift gears ourselves. Reviews, Pricing, Specs

Andrew Trahan

2 of 19

19. Lexus RC F – 467 horsepower, $65,160

Price per horsepower: $140Lexus’s RC F is the only offering from the Japanese luxury brand with more than 400 horsepower for less than $80,000. A big, 467-hp V-8 engine sits behind the hourglass grille and helps send this sports coupe from zero to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds.

Price per horsepower: $159We bet you forgot—or never knew—that the Cadillac XTS is available as a V-Sport. Powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter V-6 making 410 horsepower, the V-Sport managed to scoot to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.6 seconds at 105 mph in our testing. Perfect for the livery driver in a hurry—maybe there’s a business opportunity here: Uber Fast?

Price per horsepower: $153Compared with competitors from Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, and Mercedes-AMG, the BMW M3 and M4 are less expensive, but they’re weaklings. The BMWs’ turbocharged straight-six engine belts out just 425 horsepower. Those seeking additional power can opt for the Competition package, which brings 19 more horses to the stable for an additional $4750, or $250 per pony. The M4 coupe commands a premium of $2400 over its sedan sibling.

Price per horsepower: $153It’s easy to overlook the Infiniti Q70. The model’s mechanicals can be traced back to the turn of the decade when it still bore the M designation (M56 for V-8 models). Although the Q70 may be outclassed by its newer competition, the elder mid-size luxury sedan is still a comfortable cruiser, and it’s also a quick one when equipped with the optional 420-hp 5.6-liter V-8 engine. A long-wheelbase 2015 Q70 with that engine and all-wheel drive (an additional $2550) went from zero to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and crossed the quarter-mile after 13.4 seconds at 107 mph in our testing.

Price per horsepower: $98The Camaro ZL1 may be 57 horsepower short of the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, but that doesn’t make this high-powered pony car any less sweet than its crosstown rival. In fact, it may be sweeter. Thanks to the ZL1’s 560-pound-lighter curb weight, the Camaro’s power-to-weight ratio is actually better than the more powerful Challenger’s. This helped the Chevy at the track, too, where an automatic-equipped (plus $1595) ZL1 was 0.2 second quicker to 60 mph than a Hellcat automatic.

Price per horsepower: $150If you miss the old days of big V-8 sedans that keeled over at the first sight of a turn, then head over to your nearest Kia dealership and check out the K900 V8 Luxury. K900s can be had for less, but you’ll have to settle for a V-6 engine under the hood. If you want to go old-school, then a naturally aspirated V-8 is a must, so step up to the 420-hp 5.0-liter V-8.

Price per horsepower: $147The CTS V-Sport is good. Really good. It’s so good, in fact, that in spite of the Caddy’s wonky CUE infotainment system and mediocre interior materials, the 420-hp twin-turbo V-6 CTS V-Sport finished second in a recent comparison test, just behind the 396-hp Mercedes-AMG E43.

Price per horsepower: $133The ATS-V scores high on the value equation, with the least expensive model, the sedan, asking just $133 for each of its 464 horses. (The coupe starts at $63,890.) Compare that with a base BMW M3 ($64,995), which charges $153 for each of its 425 horses. U-S-A!

Price per horsepower: $151The Lincoln Continental is another car that might not instantly pop to mind when thinking of 400-hp rides. Of course, not all Continentals can boast 400 horsepower. One has to opt for the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine, which is limited to the $60,625 Reserve or the $69,265 Black Label. That’s a big ask for the Lincoln, which explains why most are sold with one of two sub-400-horsepower V-6 engines.

Price per horsepower: $108The GT350 is a car that favors driving enjoyment over outright horsepower. In other words, it’s not a direct competitor to the Camaro ZL1 or the Challenger Hellcat. Still, the most powerful Mustang available (for now) is no slouch, as the car’s flat-plane-crankshaft V-8 produces 526 powerful ponies—and sounds great doing so.

Price per horsepower: $124The Corvette is America’s sports car, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that it offers a lot of horsepower from its V-8 engine for relatively little money—it doesn’t get any more American than that. And those horses aren’t heavily burdened, thanks to the Corvette’s composite-plastic body, aluminum spaceframe, and two-seat layout. At 3452 pounds, a Corvette Stingray we tested needed just 3.9 seconds to go from zero to 60 mph; that’s 0.4 second less than it took a Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 with 66 more horsepower but carrying an extra 338 pounds. Granted, that particular Vette—like every C7 Stingray we’ve tested—was equipped with the optional performance exhaust, which bumps the horsepower output to 460. But what horsepower lover wouldn’t ante up $1195 for five more thoroughbreds?

Price per horsepower: $132The Genesis G90 may be the brand’s flagship luxury sedan, but the smaller G80 is the Genesis we’d rather take home. Still big, but not quite as big, the G80 is a more enjoyable sedan to pilot. Plus, the G80 can be had with the same 420-hp V-8 engine available in the slightly heavier G90. No wonder the V-8 G80 we tested in 2014 (when it was still badged a Hyundai Genesis) needed just 5.0 seconds to go from zero to 60 mph—0.3 second quicker than a G90 with the V-8.

Price per horsepower: $124Infiniti’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine is offered in two forms: a lower-level 300-hp variant and the 400-hp version we’re highlighting here. Available in the strangely named Red Sport 400 trim on Q50 sedans and Q60 coupes, the high-horsepower V-6 makes an abundant 350 lb-ft of torque at a low 1600 rpm and comes mated to a seven-speed automatic transmission. The Q50 Red Sport 400 starts at $49,605, with the slinkier Q60 Red Sport 400 commanding a $2600 premium.

Price per horsepower: $117The Chevrolet SS will soon disappear from U.S. showrooms. Our advice? Go to your local Chevy dealer and pick up one of these rear-wheel-drive V-8 sedans while they’re still available. The Australia-made, Holden Commodore–based SS produces a mighty 415 horsepower and is available with either a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic (plus $300). There are deals to be had, too, as we’ve seen new SS sedans selling for close to $4000 below MSRP.

Price per horsepower: $109While lower-level MKZs come with a pair of four-cylinder engines (one turbocharged, the other complemented by an electric motor), the Select, Reserve, and Black Label trims open up the ordering books to the twin-turbo V-6. Front-wheel-drive MKZs with this engine make a mere 350 horsepower; however, dropping an extra $3140 for all-wheel-drive brings an additional 50 horses to the MKZ’s underhood ranch. The retirees of Del Boca Vista who purchase one of these beasts will want to make sure their estate is in order before they take the wheel.

Price per horsepower: $83The Camaro SS is the pony car for drivers. What it lacks in horsepower compared with the 485-hp Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack it more than makes up for in its excellent road manners and solid chassis. It also boasts a $2190 lower starting price and 10Best Cars awards in each of the past two years.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.